REU SITE: Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Research Experience for Undergraduates

There is a scarcity of bioengineering (BioE) focused Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs in Kansas and the surrounding states. The Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Research Experience for Undergraduates (iBREU) program will address this gap by providing new and expanded BioE summer research opportunities open to all students, but particularly appealing for students in Kansas and the surrounding region. The objective of the iBREU program is to help undergraduate students better understand and appreciate how scientific research is conducted in bioengineering and how that research can make an impact on healthcare. This objective will be achieved by engaging promising undergraduates in full-time summer research experiences accompanied by structured professional development activities. The iBREU project will strengthen the U.S. scientific and engineering workforce by preparing students for future research careers. A distinctive feature of iBREU is the integration of innovation and translation training that will teach students how to develop research discoveries and bring them to the market. Training through the STARTUP Central online education system will be combined with in-person REU activities. This integrated approach will cultivate an innovation mindset among participants as they carry out their research projects and is strongly supported by the proposed faculty mentors, many of whom have direct experience in research translation and start up business formation. The iBREU program will be conducted with faculty mentors from the interdisciplinary Bioengineering Program, including the departments of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Psychology at KU. This project will engage 30 undergraduates, 10 in each of the years 2027, 2028, and 2029. Each student will spend 10 summer weeks at KU. The objective of this program is to help undergraduate students better understand and appreciate how scientific research is conducted through hands-on experience in the field of bioengineering and to help them learn how that research can make an impact on healthcare. The program is intended instill a desire to continue in a research career. Students will gain this experience by personally working through all stages of their own research project. Faculty mentors and graduate student mentors will undergo mentor training and will provide the necessary guidance to each student, developing their independence as a researcher. Participating faculty have a variety of interdisciplinary research interests, but all projects have the common connection in bioengineering with 4 general topic areas: biomechanics, biomaterials, biodevices, and drug development & delivery. The iBREU culminates in a research symposium, where students will give an oral presentation of their research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.